Improvement in slate-pencil sharpeners



'T. B. MERRILL. SLATE-PENCIL SHARPENEEL.

No. 187,721. Patented Fe b..Z7,18 77.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS E. MERRILL, OF PORTLAND, MAINE.

IMPROVEMENT IN SLATE-PENCIL S HARPENERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 187,721, dated February 27, 1877; application filed December 15, 1876.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS B. MERRILL, of Portland, in the county of Cumberland and State-of Maine, have invented certain. new and useful Improvements in Pencil-Sharpeners; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Figure 1 is an end view. Fig. 2 is a side view. Fig. 3 is a top plan. Fig. 4is another form of my invention.

Same letters show like parts.

My invention relates to a device for sharpening pencils.

It is composed of a block, a, and a knife or cutter, b. The block has the shelf or ledge c, groove d, and opening 0. The knife is made with the beveled edge f, slot 9, and has the set-screw h. The beveled edge f is to produce a drawing out on the pencil. The opening 6 is to receive the shavings or chips, and to facilitate the sharpener clearing itself of the same. The ledge c is to place the pencil upon when it is to be submitted to the beveled knife f. The ledge also operates as a kind of gage, so that the pencil canbe cut uniformly on all sides. The groove is to enable the lead point of a pencil to be placed or thrust down by the edge of the cutter, so as to sharpen the point or lead of a pencil. The opening 6 is so made in order to allow the shavings or cuttings freely to free themselves from the knife. i is the bottom side, or side that rests on a support, such as a table, when the device is in use.

By drawing the pencil toward the user, the same can be pointed or sharpened. The block a is, meanwhile, held by the thumb and finger of one hand.

The slot 9 and set-screws h enable the user to adjust the extent of the projection of the knife through the slot f, as he may desire.

Fig. 4 is an end view of a modification of my invention, where the gage is produced by a V-shaped groove in the top side of the block, and the beveled cutter placed in one of the sides of the groove.

WhatI claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The pencil-sharpener having the cutter b and block a, the said block having the ledge, the

groove, and the opening, and. the knife, the beveled edge, slot, and set-screw, as herein described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I aftix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

THOMAS B. MERRILL.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM HENRY CLIFFORD, HERBERT G. BRIGGS. 

